Catfish
by theweiszguy
Summary: Gray, Gajeel and Loke were determined to help Natsu find out who this 'Lucy Heartfilia' truly was.


**"** **Alright boys, time to crack another case today." Gray announced, rubbing his calloused hands together. He walked over to the desk where his computer full of emails from awaiting fans to get their 'Catfish' case solved. His two accomplices, Gajeel and Loke, followed in suit behind the dark haired man.**

"Geez, I can't believe this many people think their being catfished." Gajeel said, propping an elbow up on the desk. He watched as Gray scrolled through the thousands of emails they had received.

"This one sounds… intriguing." Loke stated, pointing to the computer screen at an email entitles 'Princess and the Pauper'.

"Alright let's see…" Gray drew out his words, clicking on the email. When Gray seen the name of the person who sent the email, his eyes grew wide. "Oh my Mavis."

 _Hey! My name is Natsu Dragneel. I'm 20 years old and I'm a firefighter for Magnolia. About three years ago I met a girl named Lucy on Youtube. She commented on it and told me she loved my singing voice, so I decided to PM her and tell her thank you. We've talked everyday since, and two and a half years ago we decided to be more than just friends. After two and a half years together, we still haven't video chatted and every plans we make to meet up is ruined because of her father she says. We text all the time and we talk on the phone every once in awhile, but after this long… if we want to keep at this relationship I need more than just text messages and pictures. I love this girl to death… but I just don't know if she's who she says she is._

"Flame brain's had a girl for three years and didn't tell us?!" Gray shouted to his two co-workers, who mouths were agape at the email as well.

"Looks like he does know how to keep a secret." Gajeel muttered, watching Gray reach into his pants pocket and pull out his cell phone. He went to his contacts, looking for a certain someone before pressing the talk button next to his name. The phone only rang two times before someone answered.

" _What do you want Ice Princess?"_

"So, need help finding out who this Lucy is eh Natsu?" Gray teased over the phone, hearing his best friend groan in response.

" _I knew I was going to regret asking you fuckers for help."_

"Well too late now, on my way home now." Gray said before hanging up his phone. He picked up his laptop and his backpack full of supplies as Gajeel and Loke did the same before heading over to Natsu and Gray's apartment.

"I gotta give you props for keeping a secret like this lava lips." Gray commented settling down on his and Natsu's plush couch. He heard his roommate sigh from the matching chair he was sitting on.

"It wasn't easy I'll tell you that." He grumbled running a hand through his pink mane of hair. "She just… drives me crazy. I didn't tell anyone cause I know how you guys are with long-distance relationships and how the others freak out about them. So I just kept it hush hush."

"You're a real idiot, ya know that?" Gray scolded. "You could have just asked us for help."

Natsu awkwardly rubbed the back on his head. "I wanted to keep it from you guys as long as I could…"

Loke's eyes went wide. "Wait, three years ago is when we began to do this. Is she why you didn't want to?"

Natsu nodded. "Yeah, would have felt a little hypocritical."

Gray snickered. "Whipped since day one it seems."

Before a fight could break out, Gajeel asked, "Where does she live?" He could already tell this whole thing was going to be an awkward pain in the ass because with Natsu, everything was a pain in the ass.

"Fiore." Natsu simply answered.

"That's only four hours away." Loke commented. "And you guys couldn't meet up why?"

"She told me her dads this big wig that owns his own railway system and won't let her leave the house. On days where we were gonna meet she told me her dad caught her trying to get out and her dad wasn't to happy." He explained to them.

"Geez what is she fifteen Salamander?" Gajeel growled out.

"No- well I don't know! She told me she's 19."

"So, you two met when you were 17 and she was 16." Gray soaked in the information. "I told you your dumb singing videos would be a bad idea."

"Shut up!" The pink haired man exclaimed. "She's the one who talked to me first… besides, how you even seen what she looks like?"

"You mean supposedly looks like?" Gajeel corrected. "No, we obviously don't since you haven't shown us a picture."

Grumbling, Natsu dug through his pocket to take out his phone. He unlocked his phone, scrolling through his pictures until he found his favorite one of his internet girlfriend. He turned his phone around, a proud smirk on his lips.

Gray, Gajeel and Loke glanced at the picture and their jaws about dropped. It was a simple selfie picture, showing off her long blonde hair, chocolate brown eyes with her perfect smile and flawless skin. The trio looked up to the pink haired man.

"You're getting catfished."

Natsu nearly fell off his chair. "How the hell do you know that already?!"

"Have you not seen this beauty?!" Loke exclaimed. "Why the hell would she want to be with your ugly ass?"

"Gee Loke I don't know… THAT'S WHY I ASKED FOR YOUR GUYS HELP!"

"I'm calling this a catfish right now." Gajeel said, making Natsu groan.

"You guys suck at your job, you know that? Is this how you treat all your clients?"

"Only when the girl is as beautiful as her and the guy is as ugly as you are." Loke admitted making the two dark haired boys laugh as they scrolled through more pictures. When Gray and Gajeel seen all they needed, Loke swiped the phone away. "You guys may be done looking, but I want to see every picture."

Natsu's face flushed. "N-No! You can't look at every-"

The pink haired male knew his words were a lost cause as he seen the lion like man's eye nearly bug out of his head with a little blood dripping from his nose. He jumped out of his chair to retrieve his phone. "G-Give me that!"

"What'd ya see, Loke?" Gajeel asked but knowing it was on the perverted side due to the expression on his face.

"She sends… topless pictures…" He said in barely above a whisper.

Natsu sighed as he ran a hair through his hair. "I knew this was a mistake…"

Gray stood up, placing a hand on his best friend's shoulder. "Just email me her Fairybook and other information and we'll get searching."

"Yeah let's get Loke out of here before he pisses Salamander off even more." Gajeel stood up from his chair. "We'll find out for ya man. No one deserves to be lied to like this."

"Natsu's so lucky…" Loke muttered as the three made their way out the door and to Gajeel's place to look at the evidence.

"Okay, Flame Brain gave me her information, let's see what comes up." Gray said, rubbing his hands together before opening up the images on the email file.

"I still think it's a catfish." Gajeel reminded him. "There's just no way she's who she says she is."

"I agree." Loke commented, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "She's way too hot for him."

"Stranger things have happened guys." Gray grumbled and he dragged her picture in a search box. "Let's see if her picture pops anything up."

The three intently watched the screen, waiting to see the results of the picture. Gajeel clenched his jaw as the internet finally loaded the results. "Well shit…"

On the screen were hundreds of results for the same picture came up. The picture linked to modeling websites and multiple Fairybook pages. This Lucy Heartfilia was quite a popular source of fake profiles. Well, if Lucy Heartfilia was even her real name.

"Natsu did say something about her modeling…" Gray muttered as he reread the information Natsu sent him.

"That's common for a catfish to do though." Gajeel explained.

"Why don't we just click on the modeling site? The website usually has the models information." Gray and Gajeel looked at the orange haired man blankly.

"The fact that you know that scares me a bit." Gajeel admitted.

Loke smirked, pushing the glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Well in my free time-"

"Save it." Gray said holding up a hand, not wanting to hear anymore. Upon further search on the website, he noticed a section where you could look up facts about the models. "Well, according to this her name _is_ Lucy Heartfilia and she _does_ live in Fiore."

"That's a good sign." Loke commented. "Still, no way Natsu could score a girl like her."

"Regardless," Gray said as he pinched the bridge of his nose, "This information doesn't mean a damn thing. We need to find more…"

"With the amount of Fairybook profiles there are on her, it'll be impossible to locate hers… if she even has one. Was Salamander to dumb to realize that?" Gajeel grumbled.

"Its Natsu were talking about after all." Loke said rubbing his chin. "I guess all we can do now is look up her phone number."

"I guess that's our only option now huh." Gray said more to himself as he went to their usual phone searching website. He copy and pasted her number through the email that Natsu had sent them, heart racing as the website loaded the results.

The three grew wide eyed when the results popped up.

"Shit…" Gray muttered, feeling his heart strain.

"Who the hell is Missy Spetto?" Gajeel asked, knowing no one knew the answer.

"Apparently the woman Natsu has been speaking with…" Loke said, stating the obvious. The picture that popped up with the newfound information wasn't of the beautiful blonde, but of an aged woman with wrinkles. "With all our previous investigations, looking up the phone number is usually who it is."

"Let's just look up who this Missy Spetto is…" Gray typed her name in the search engine, to everyone's surprise, nothing popped up for her.

"How can there be no information on her?" Gajeel half shouted from his shock.

Gray rubbed his hands on his face. "This is such a pain in the ass…"

"You know," Loke said with a suggesting voice, "We can still call her. See whats really going on."

Gray and Gajeel shared a glance. "Couldn't hurt to try, not like we have any other options."

"Yeah, you're right." Gray sighed. "I hope there's a slim chance she's real, for Natsu's sake."

"Yeah, the idiot never has had a girlfriend. Hell I didn't even think he was even interested in dating. It'll suck if his first love experience is with a 60 year old woman." Gajeel added on, pressing the call button on her contact.

"Even if she's not real, I think I'm going to do some investigating this Lucy Heartfilia."

The black haired males sweat dropped and were about to retort when someone picked up on the other line.

" _Hello?"_ The trio was surprised when it was a young womans voice.

"Hi, is this Lucy?" Gray asked timidly.

" _Uh, yes… this is her."_

"Well, my name's Gray. I'm really good friends with Natsu-"

" _Oh you're the one who does the catfish investigating right?"_

"Yes, that's me. So you know why I'm calling?"

They heard her sigh into the line. " _I figured it was only a matter of time before Natsu suspected something like this."_

"What do you mean?"

" _You see… my father's a rich business tycoon and is overprotective of me. I'm not allowed to leave the house for my own protection he says. I'm not even allowed to have my own cell phone because his enemies can track me or something ridiculous like that. So, my maid lets me use her phone… but it's only a phone you can take pictures on. I have a computer, but my dad tracks what I do on it. I've tried to run away and meet Natsu but I'm caught every time and it doesn't matter if I'm legal age. My father uses his resources to keep me here."_ They heard her sniffle over the line. " _I want to see Natsu so badly…"_

All their hearts dropped, this woman seemed to really care for their hyperactive friend. "Just to get this straight you are the woman in your photos?"

" _That is correct."_

"You do realize that your photos are being stolen and used throughout the internet?"

She sighed. " _I do. I did a photoshoot for one of my father's business deals. I didn't think people would pretend to be me though."_

"Is there anyway you can come and meet Natsu? He desperately wants to see you."

" _I want to see him too… I can try. I'll never give up until I can see Natsu."_

"Okay, would tomorrow be okay for you? If not, we could always try in a dew days."

" _No. Tomorrow is perfect."_

"Okay. Is there any place that's best for you to meet us at?"

" _There's a town close by called Hargeon, if we could meet up there that'll be great."_

"Is your father going to be an issue?"

" _I'll deal with him, thank you guys so much for doing this for us."_

"This is the first time we've seen flame brain so high strung over a girl, we're happy to help Lucy."

" _Natsu's so lucky to have friends like you guys, he told me all about you guys."_

"Oh?" Gray smirked over the line. "You'll have to tell us about it one day, but we gotta get packed and meet up with Flame Brain. We'll see you tomorrow Lucy."

" _Bye, and thanks again."_

"I can't believe she's real." Loke mumbled out in disbelief.

"I ain't believin' nothin' until I see her in the flesh. She could still be anyone, voices don't matter." Gajeel said, not wanting to be wrong about his first assumption.

"Well, you assholes are gonna see for sure tomorrow. Lets call up Natsu and tell him the news, then I guess let's get packed?" Gray suggested as he closed his laptop and packing it in his bag. The other two nodded in agreement, ready for tomorrow's events.

"So, you excited Flame Shit?" Gray asked as they drove down the highway. They were about five minutes from where they were suppose to meet Lucy at.

Natsu shrugged. "Dunno. We've planned to meet up before but always got our plans ruined by her old man. I don't wanna get my hopes up."

He was about to reply when his phone dinged. "Hey check my phone it might be Lucy."

Natsu obliged and read the text message, his heart started to race at the two simple words. "She says she's there."

"Still don't believe she's who she says she is." Gajeel commented from the backseat.

"I just don't wanna believe Natsu scored a girl like that." Loke said with a shrug of the shoulders.

"Someones jealous." Natsu smirked at them, but it quickly turned into a nervous frown as they pulled into the area they were suppose to meet in. He spotted a girl sitting at a picnic bench just playing on her phone. His heart stopped and his body refused to move. It was her… it was Lucy.

He seen her look up at him, her expression looked shocked. He stood there for a few moments before his body reacted on its own as he raced over there just in time for her to stand up from her seat. His arms wrapped around her waist pulling her to him. He loved the feeling of her arms wrapping around his neck. She was so small compared to him, she only came up to his collar bone, if that. He buried his face into her golden locks as he felt her tears stain his black shirt.

"You're… really here." Lucy whispered into his neck, pulling back as she looked into his olive green eyes. "I can't believe it."

He gave her a gentle grin, his own eyes glossy with tears. "That should be my line weirdo."

Natsu got a better look of Lucy, she looked exactly like her pictures. He felt stupid for ever doubting she wasn't who she said she was. Her blonde hair was shimmering in the sun, and her mocha colored eyes bore into his. The strapless mint green dress that reached her knees complimented her slim body well. This was perfect. _She_ was perfect.

Someone coughed, ruining the couple's moment. Lucy looked to see three men, two with black hair and one with orange. The ginger looking one came over to Lucy and kissed the back of her hand.

"Its an honor to meet you my princess." Loke fell to the ground when he was hit in the head.

"Oi! You can't kiss her before I do!" Natsu shouted angrily, his words making Lucy blush.

"You both are idiots." Gray grumbled walking over to Lucy offering him her hand. "I'm Gray."

Lucy smiled warmly taking his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you Gray."

Gray thrusted a thumb over his shoulder. "The guy back there is Gajeel."

"Nice to meet you Bunny Girl."

Lucy blinked at him confused. "Bunny Girl?"

Gajeel chuckled. "Yeah, you hopped right up to see Pinky over there, reminded me of a bunny."

Natsu growled as he walked over to them, throwing an arm around his girlfriend's shoulder. "Don't be calling my girl names Lug Nut."

"Still can't believe she's real." Gajeel admitted.

"Can't believe she looks like that and settle for you." Loke comented from the side earning a slap on the head from Gray. "Oh come on! You know it's true!"

"It's not!" Lucy spoke up, earning all four males attention which made her face flush. "Natsu's very sweet, and he puts me first. His personality is what got me… his looks are just a bonus."

Natsu felt his heart swell as he pulled Lucy into his arms again. "HA! Take that! I got a girl and all you guys are miserably single."

The three spared a glance towards each other before Loke shouted. "We could get girls if we wanted to! We're too busy doing this though."

Gajeel nodded. "Yeah, but it's starting to be too much of a real job then a side thing. I think this is my last run about boys."

Gray nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I'm glad we could end with a bang though."

"Yeah, I'm grateful to you guys." Lucy smiled as she wrapped her arms around Natsu's torso.

"I hate to admit it, but I am too." Natsu said as he turned his soft gaze to Lucy. Lucy looked back up at him, eyes glazed with love and affection.

"Okay, we'll let you kids have your alone time." Gray teased as he and the others walked away.

"Use protection!" Gajeel hollered which made them flush.

"Lucy! If it doesn't work out with this goon, you always have a prince charming to turn to!" Loke shouted to the blonde with a flirtatious grin.

Lucy shivered in Natsu's arms which made him tighten his hold on her. "Don't pay attention to him, he's a major flirt."

Lucy giggled. "I couldn't tell."

"How did you get away from your father?"

Lucy looked to the ground. "I… finally stood up to him. Told him he couldn't control my life. He wasn't happy, but he agreed. So, I just packed up and I left without another word." She looked back up at her boyfriend, her eyes shone with happiness. "And I can't wait to start my next adventure in life with you."

Unable to help himself, Natsu leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. They were so soft against his chapped ones. The two inexperienced teens pulled back for breath, their gazes soft towards each other.

"You'll be my favorite adventure, Lucy."


End file.
